Saturday, February 21, 2015

A piece of the puzzle is missing. A space of loneliness which is impossible to be permanently swept under the rug.

I remember, quite vividly, a conversation I had with a friend when I was in the sixth grade. Can you even begin to imagine how wonderful it would be, I said, to fall in love with a woman and spend the rest of your life with her--coming home to her every night, distance be damned--doing everything holding hands?

Why is this so indelibly imprinted on my memory? Why was I so preoccupied with this notion the existence of which was surely premature at a single digit age?

With the benefit of many years of hindsight and pondering on the lessons of experience--the source of personal development--it has become abundantly clear that I am a romanticist who is completely incomplete without the active ingredient of love. The bells and whistle kind without which I don't know what time it is.

So--what's to be done? Do I study the actuaries and categorize that aspect of life as "closed", having run out of time? Better I put my mouth over the exhaust pipe of my car and pay a stranger to start the ignition. One of the certainties of my scene is romance, the absence of which robs me of incentive.

We learn as we live so there's really no choice to be made. I'm functioning so I'm still a candidate. I'm not talking about the dot-com world but rather the upbeat belief that tomorrow is loaded with possibilities that require no invitation or pre-planing. Things can happen just because. I'm not shutting the door to happenstance.

I'm still in the batter's box sporting the lineup name of Hobbs. Roy Hobbs.

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Brian Williams must have a mental disorder. He did not base his conduct on malice. Without malice it is difficult to entertain motive. His public apologies were sincere, in that he fessed up and begged forgiveness. The NBC sharks were all too anxious to jump into the frenzied feeding pool. People usually hide their lies; Williams jumped on a world stage. As far as his audience is concerned, no one is wounded or crying in the streets. They would constitute record breaking numbers in viewing his return.

Who are his victims? He has lost credibility in the personal saga realm but that is a tiny slice of the public news pie. He is the victim of pouncers who lie in wait in the jungle of jealously.

He suffers from a flaw. He has acknowledged his mistakes. Let us make room for the passage of time's effect should he be rehired at the end of his suspendsion. There are no demonstrators in the streets. His critics seem bent on vengeance. He has broken no law as even former presidents have. He is living through his personal hell. His agony appears legitimate.

Compassion and forgiveness should not be abandoned in this case. There are worse unpunished scoundrels out there.

About Me

worked my way through college and law school as a stand-up comic. 36 years as criminal defense attorney followed by 13 years on the bench as a Massachusetts District Court Judge. Developed a sense of timing from stand-up which has been invaluable in a courtroom. Accept it: a trial IS show biz. For more, Google "gerald alch."